Wide-Format Impressions Article Spotlights Insights on Signage in Retail Environments

Adrenaline’s Senior Director of Client Solutions and Managed Services in Environments discusses creative approaches to static and digital signage in retail settings

Thursday, April 29, 2021 – In the March/April 2021 issue of Wide-Format Impressions, Adrenaline’s signage specialist Rick Barrick takes on the topic of strategic deployment of digital and traditional signage in retail environments, as digital continues to make its mark. In the article Competitors or Collaborators?, Rick discusses how both of these engaging mediums are even more powerful when used together. He says, “There is a need for both… The key here is to have an underlying messaging strategy to have a harmonious interplay between static and digital signage within a space. Without that strategy, the customer experience will feel disjointed.”  

On the creative aspects of deployment, Rick explains, “A lot of it depends on the kind of composition, which is determined by a number of factors like dwell time and branded storytelling elements.” Cutting an unfolding story into separate scenes provides flexibility while enhancing engagement. Further, with digital, calls-to-action can be more dynamic and changing. Rick says, “Having 30 seconds over a number of scenes empowers you to grab the consumer’s attention with visuals, phrasing, and motion. After you’ve gotten that consumer’s attention, you can then demonstrate how a product or service might solve the conflict that’s been introduced.” 

Rick does caution that too many elements – both static and digital – in any environment can cause clutter and information overload, which will ultimately take away from the experience. He says, “We don’t want the consumer’s eye to have to try to reconcile competing dynamic elements.” This is where a strategic approach to messaging matters most. Rick says, “What you’re working toward is the creation of a pleasing environment that doesn’t add anxiety or provide too much stimulus, where it’s unclear what the message is. Strategic deployment of dynamic and static makes it easier for the consumer to retain the message.”

While signage can be a dynamic addition, it’s important to keep the whole customer journey in mind. Rick says, “Signage is just one part of a customer’s experience in the retail space. While static or dynamic, signage is an important part of a holistic customer journey, but not the entire experience itself.” With other elements, Rick says, “It’s critical to have at least a fundamental appreciation of all of the elements that interact and interplay together – whether they be architectural, spatial design, programmatic messaging, static elements to get scale, or digital elements to provide motion – to understand how the visual expression of brand will be experienced by the customer within that space.”

See the full article Competitors or Collaborators? in Wide-Format Impressions for all of Rick’s insights and beautiful imagery of the CTCU at the Cannery, a destination experience Adrenaline created with Cooperative Teachers Credit Union. Wide-Format Impressions provides comprehensive coverage on the news and industry trends in the visual communications and signage industry. The bi-monthly publication is a resource for senior-level executives spotlighting innovations and emerging technologies across numerous applications and settings.

To learn more about designing and deploying digital signage as part of a holistic brand experience, contact our experts at [email protected].

Adrenaline is an experience design agency that creates and implements end-to-end branded experiences through creative and environmental design. We enhance our clients’ customer experiences across digital and physical channels, from their branding and advertising to design and technology in their spaces. After transforming an organization’s brand, Adrenaline extends it across all touchpoints — from employees to the market to in-store environments. And, we focus on serving industries that sell human experiences including financial, healthcare, sports and entertainment.